September 14, 2012

University of Texas School of Law in Austin closed for the day after bomb threat prompts evacuation

Students, faculty and staff at the University of Texas School of Law in Austin safely left the law school this morning as the university was evacuated, Kirston Fortune, the law school's assistant dean for communication, writes in an e-mail.

“Everyone was evacuated from the School of Law without mishap,” she writes. “Dean Farnsworth closed the Law School for today.”

The university received a phone call regarding a bomb threat at 8:30 a.m. and “out of an abundance of caution” decided to evacuate the buildings, says Gary Susswein, director of media relations for the university. “Within a couple of hours we determined that the threat was not legitimate and at noon allowed students to return to the buildings,” he says.

Although it would have been “completely safe” to resume classes, most students had dispersed and scheduled classes were canceled, Susswein says. Activities, other than scheduled classes, will resume at 5 p.m. today, he says.